Team Vestas Wind Looking to Rejoin the Race

(December 8, 2014) - Team Vestas Wind commercial and sailing teams, together with Vestas CMO Morten Albæk and CEO of Volvo Ocean Race, Knut Frostad, hosted a joint press conference in Abu Dhabi to discuss the implications of the grounding of the Vestas Wind on a reef in the Indian Ocean on November 29.

Skipper Chris Nicholson and navigator Wouter Verbraak joined the conference on behalf of the crew. Whilst Nicholson (Nico) detailed the precariousness of the situation experienced, he highlighted the outstanding composure shown by his crew throughout the process and praised the level of assistance received from all involved.

“The culture we have in this Team is really open and honest,” Nico confirmed. “It was a stressful time, but we need to back up and remember that this was bought on by a simple human error…we didn’t look at the chart and we didn’t zoom in enough.”

When asked about the future of Team Vestas Wind in the Volvo Ocean Race, Vestas Chief Marketing Office, Morten Albæk stated: “It’s Vestas’ clear mission to get Team Vestas Wind back into the Volvo Ocean Race. It’s going to be a joint effort with our close partners at Powerhouse, led by Vestas as the primary sponsor of the boat.”

Regarding a status on the grounded boat, Albæk debated the future of the Vestas Wind and outlined options currently available to sponsors.

“The expectation is that the boat cannot be repaired…(but) it’s a complex process to get a boat back into the race. We’ll do everything we can to investigate the possibility of a new boat and will communicate our intentions at the beginning of the next leg.”